DESCRIPTION: This navigation asset is located in Monmouth County, NJ and consists mainly of a large tidal basin that drains into the southeastern end of Sandy Hook Bay. This asset provides for the following: An Entrance Channel 12 feet deep, 300 feet wide, following the westerly shore from deep water in Sandy Hook Bay to a point 600 feet south of the former location of the railroad bridge at Highlands, NJ, and south of the existing Route 36 Bridge, with a length of about 2.2 miles; a channel 9 feet deep, 150 feet wide, suitably widened at the bends in the South Branch of the river from a point 600 feet south of the former location of the railroad bridge at Highlands, NJ to the Branchport Avenue Bridge at Long Branch, NJ, with a length of about 6.8 miles; a channel 6 feet deep, 150 feet wide, in the North Branch, within the Navesink River from the junction to Red Bank, with a length of about 6.1 miles.
AUTHORIZATION: Rivers and Harbors Act of 1919 (P.L. 656-323), modified in 1935 (P.L. 74-409), 1950 (P.L. 81-516) and 1965 (P.L. 89-298).
COMMERCE: This asset serves as a Harbor of Refuge during severe storms. This asset also supports recreational boating, including at least a dozen commercial marinas located throughout the tidal basin. The SeaStreak Ferry Terminal operating at Highlands, NJ, adjacent to the 12-foot federal channel, provides annual public ferry service between Highlands, NJ and Manhattan, NY.
BACKGROUND: Maintenance dredging was last completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in January 2025, when approximately 60,000 cubic yards (CY) of dredged silt from the upper reaches of the North Branch (in the Navesink River, west of the Oceanic Bridge) & South Branch (from south of Gunning Island to the head of Branchport Creek) was removed, processed and beneficially used as cover at New Jersey landfills in Middlesex & Monmouth Counties. During the same maintenance cycle, under a separate contract, dredging was also completed by USACE in November 2024, when approximately 45,000 CY of dredged sand was removed from the North Branch (in the Navesink River, east of the Oceanic Bridge) & South Branch (from the intersection with the North Branch, to an upstream limit in the turning basin adjacent to Gunning Island), and was beneficially used on Monmouth Beach, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Prior to that, this asset was last maintenance dredged in fiscal year (FY) 2023 (Summer 2023), when a USACE Government Dredge removed approximately 50,000 cubic yards (CY) of dredged sand from the Entrance Channel, and beneficially used that dredged sand at a nearshore placement site on the ocean-side of Sandy Hook, NJ.
Prior to latest maintenance dredging cycle that was initiated in FY2023, the channel was previously maintenance dredged in FY2014, when approximately 53,000 CY of dredged sand was removed from the South Branch and beneficially used on Monmouth Beach, NJ; as well as maintenance dredging of the Entrance Channel and the North Branch (also east of the Oceanic Bridge), with beneficial use of that dredged sand at the same nearshore placement site on the ocean-side of Sandy Hook, NJ.
STATUS: In FY2026, commonly performed Operations & Maintenance (O&M) work includes expected sediment sampling & testing, to identify potential dredged material placement sites, in preparation for the next maintenance dredging cycle within this Federal Navigation Channel. Production of an annual hydrographic channel condition survey, and publication of a controlling depth report on the District’s website (https://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/Controlling-Depth-Reports/) is also scheduled for FY2026.
CONTACT:
Alexander F. Gregory
Asset / Project Manager
P: (917) 790-8427
Email: alexander.f.gregory@usace.army.mil
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
http://www.nan.usace.army.mil
District Area: NJ #4, #6